What is abdominal pain?

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Dr. SYLVESTER IKHISEMOJIE FROM PUNCH

Over many years, we have discussed various types of pain around the body but have not discussed abdominal pain.

To be sure, this is one of the most common causes of discomfort in the body and is a cause of frequent hospitalizations.

Abdominal pain ranges in severity from mild to moderate to severe and even life-threatening. The causes are different according to age and gender.

Some causes such as gallstones and appendicitis often require surgery. Ruptured ectopic pregnancy, which does not exist in men, is a life-threatening condition that usually requires an emergency operation.

In the past, we have discussed these three problems on this page and so, it is a fact that while we have talked about some problems that manifest with abdominal pain, we have not discussed the topic as one entity.

Therefore, abdominal pain is felt anywhere between the chest and the groin. The latter is very significant because problems like torsion of the testis, which occur in the scrotum and which are not seen in females, often manifest as abdominal pain.

The same is true for an inguinal hernia. It is therefore, a matter of delicate attention when a person who complains of abdominal pain gets to have a thorough examination involving all these regions of the body.

The pain may be localised to a particular region of the abdomen such as in acute appendicitis or it may be more general such as in typhoid perforation. This is particularly so in typhoid because the entire abdomen becomes contaminated with stool, bacteria, and pus.

In situations like perforated typhoid, therefore, death is almost certainly the outcome unless an emergency operation is carried out to clean out the mess all the above sediments have caused and the tear in the intestinal wall is repaired.

Same goes for a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. In between these extremes, however, there are other conditions such as indigestion, miscarriage, urinary tract infections, and some types of blunt injuries to the abdomen such as might be sustained in a fight between two people that are often amenable to some effective home remedies.

Some of these remedies are usually similar across various cultural groups and include the deployment of herbal preparations of various types for this purpose. In the more modern setting, medicines like mist magnesium trisilicate and even the use of both antibiotics and pain relievers are often entertained.

It is important to be sure also that some cases of abdominal pain may not even require any formal treatment. However, abdominal pain is not to be ignored under any circumstances. It is important to have a doctor to examine the patient and reach a diagnosis to facilitate effective treatment.

This is particularly true if the pain gets worse every time it comes if it becomes recurrent over time, and if it is persistent. Such abdominal pain may be stabbing in character, burning, twisting, aching, cramping, or gnawing.

Only the person who suffers from it can adequately describe it to a healthcare expert.

Most Nigerians will experience abdominal pain at some point in their lives. However, due to space constraints, we will limit the discussion of this topic to people aged 10 years old and above.

People will often refer to the pain they suffer from as tummy pain or stomach cramps. When pain comes and goes in waves, such that it alternately waxes strong and wanes off, it is referred to as a colicky pain.

Most of the time, abdominal pain does not occur alone; it is usually associated with the onset of other common features such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, or diarrhoea.

There may be recurrent belching and also farting. Such fart is often very smelly. As it becomes more severe, fever can become a part of the disease process as well as loss of appetite and dehydration.